Phone it in Friday CXV: YouTube Roundup CLXXV: Star Wars Figurines

26 December 202524 December 2025 The Portly Politico3 Comments

I’ve been going through a bunch of my old stuff in preparation for moving items to the new house. In doing so, I’ve come across quite a few Star Wars action figures and collectibles.

I was a huge Star Wars kid. I loved the original trilogy and tolerated the prequel trilogy (indeed, I was super excited for the latter). I particularly loved the miniatures. I’ve sold most of the action figures in the following videos to a colleague of mine—he will take excellent care of them—but I am keeping the miniatures. They are so cool!

So, here are some recent videos featuring these fun figurines:

Midweek Midterm Exams Update

17 December 202517 December 2025 The Portly PoliticoLeave a comment

It is midterm exam week here, which means my schedule is a bit more flexible. My World History students take their midterm exams today (Wednesday, 17 December 2025), which means I’ll be monitoring and grading throughout the day.

With a bit more flexibility this week, I have been going through my belongings to prepare items to sell on Facebook Marketplace and/or eBay, and to find things to donate to neighbors, friends, family, and/or Goodwill. It is wild how much detritus one accumulates in a small house over the course of seven years, especially when it’s someone with latent hoarder tendencies like yours portly.

This morning a colleague purchased these Star Wars action figures from me (as well as a few other Kenner figurines I had sitting around the house):

My father-in-law went on a Facebook Marketplace kick when he and my mother-in-law were downsizing earlier this summer (see also: my U-Haul adventure), and my own mom does a brisk business through it as well, so I’ve been turning stuff I don’t want to move to the new house into moderate treasure. Some items move quickly and/or generate lots of interest; others sit in unsold purgatory, awaiting either redemption into paradise or a bleak end in the donation pile.

LEGO Craft IV: Cargo Hauler

2 July 202511 June 2025 The Portly PoliticoLeave a comment

I’m kicking off July with another LEGO build. This time, I fashioned my limited number of pieces into a cargo hauler, complete with the battle droid folded up for easy transport.

Lazy Sunday CCCXV: LEGO Craft

29 June 202520 June 2025 The Portly PoliticoLeave a comment

This Sunday I thought I’d take a look back at my recent LEGO Craft series of posts. Here are the first three (with more to come):

“LEGO Craft” – a typical starfighter, one with Luke cozily ensconced in his craft.
“LEGO Craft II: Star Station Wagon” – a space version of the classic station wagon.
“LEGO Craft III: Star Party Cruiser” – a space craft designed for intergalactic partying.

Happy Sunday!

—TPP

Other Lazy Sunday Installments:

Phone it in Friday XCIV: YouTube Roundup LCIV: Ewok Summer Trilogy

27 June 202520 June 2025 The Portly PoliticoLeave a comment

I’ve been experimenting a bit with stop motion animation—and I use that term quite loosely—with some of my LEGO figurines. On a whim, I filmed a little Ewok minifigure proclaiming it’s “Ewok Summer,” and from there I experimented with a couple of other YouTube shorts.

I edited all of these “in-camera,” meaning that I just clicked “pause” on my iPhone’s camera mid-recording and hit “record” again. The last of the three was the most involved, in which I tried to click “pause” and “record” in a rhythm. You can tell when I lingered on a shot a bit longer than intended, but for a hyper-amateurish effort, I like how the third one materialized.

Finally, the music in the second and third videos is a track called “Hey Sailor”; it’s a royalty-free YouTube track. I haven’t figured out yet how to put my music into these videos, but eventually I will and I’ll do so.

Now, on with the Ewok Summer Trilogy!

LEGO Craft III: Star Party Cruiser

25 June 202511 June 2025 The Portly Politico1 Comment

I’m continuing my personal challenge to rebuild little star cruisers out of the pieces I just happened to have on hand. I’ve avoided the temptation to add any more pieces, which makes the whole thing even more fun.

This Sunday I’ve put together a party cruiser for Luke and the Boyz. The “party” aspect comes from the droid holding up a radio aloft, which I’m interpreting as him blasting intergalactic tunes.

LEGO Craft II: Star Station Wagon

18 June 20258 June 2025 The Portly PoliticoLeave a comment

After last week’s LEGO space craft, I decided to rebuild it into a wider craft. I was watching a video about the station wagon (lol) on YouTube, so I decided this build is something of a space station wagon.

I am a sucker for the station wagon, and bemoan their disappearance from the market. But could the people of the Star Wars universe have carted their kids and Ewoks around in station wagons?

LEGO Craft

11 June 20258 June 2025 The Portly PoliticoLeave a comment

I’ve been having some fun getting back into LEGOs—perhaps the last gasp of man-childishness for yours portly—especially since Minecraft Camp last week. Today, I’m going to look at a little spacecraft I built late last week.

Phone it in Friday XCI: YouTube Roundup LCI: Ewok Shorts

6 June 20256 June 2025 The Portly Politico2 Comments

I got this little Ewok LEGO minifigure in one of the Advent Calendars, and I have found I enjoy making humorous shorts of him (well, two so far—but more to come). I wouldn’t call it true “stop motion animation“—I’m much too lazy and busy for that—but it’s super fun. Today, I’m sharing some of my little Ewok videos.

Phone it in Friday XC: YouTube Roundup LC: Old Games

30 May 202525 May 2025 The Portly Politico5 Comments

I’ve nearly depleted the Drawer of Forgotten Technology, but I’m continuing to uncover old stuff that I can sell/gift away/donate/play with again. Today I’m looking at some old games I’ve uncovered, both of which I am selling on eBay (here and here).

The Portly Politico

One Southerner's unique, erudite, conservative perspective in a hectic world

Tag: Star Wars